All In A Day's Work
by Noritsu
Summary: Raimundo Pedrosa. Fixer of things, solver of problems, giver of advice, and......hairdresser? Yep, that's our boy! Other main characters also present. Oneshot.


Xiaolin Showdown

All In A Day's Work

Authoress: Noritsu

Disclaimer

I **do not** own the Xiaolin Showdown characters, or the Xiaolin Showdown universe. They are copyrighted and belong to Christie Hui and Warner Brothers.

The storyline, however, is mine. So no pilfering, please. Thanks.

**TUN** Publishing Company

August, 2007

**T**he**U**sual**N**onsense

Thanks so much to everyone who read my last fic 'Sound Carries'. And especially thanks to the ones who left a review.

**All In A Day's Work**

He drummed his fingers on the table while he studied the assorted luncheon meats laid out in front of him.

He'd already used a slice of ham, and then a slice of tomato, and a slice of turkey. Should he use another slice of ham? Or should he put a slice of chicken on now? And what about the mustard? Should he put some on the bread, or put it between the turkey and the next slice of meat?

His eyes narrowed in concentration, he finally decided he would put a piece of lettuce on next. This was followed by a slice of cheese, and then the slice of turkey. After that, a smattering of mustard to finish it all off.

Raimundo smiled as he laid the other slice of bread on top, and pressed down on it a bit to secure it, thereby bringing his sandwich building efforts to a close.

He re-wrapped the luncheon meats and put them back in the fridge along with the condiments. He poured himself a glass of iced tea, and headed out the kitchen in the direction of the patio. Along the way, he bumped into Master Fung.

"Ah, Raimundo, I was just looking for you. Could you help me with something?"

Raimundo studied Master Fung's face, and then looked back down at his sandwich and tea. "Um, I was kind of going to eat my lunch."

"Yes, I see. This won't take long. I just need you to help me fix something."

Raimundo pursed his lips. "Okay."

He followed Master Fung down the hall to his room. They entered in, and Rai placed his sandwich and tea on the dresser.

"You see here," Master Fung said. "The window is stuck. I'm reluctant to put too much pressure on it. I'm afraid I may stress the glass causing it to break. I was hoping you could…..well…"

"Jiggle it?"

Master Fung smiled. "Well, yes, with your element."

Raimundo walked over to the window. "Is it okay if I put the screen window back up?"

Dojo popped up suddenly brandishing a fly swatter. "Yeah. But do it quickly! I'm not spending the rest of the day chasing after bugs!"

Raimundo's eyebrow crept up into his hairline as he regarded the little green reptile. The corner of his mouth curled in amusement and he walked over to the window.

"Hmmmm," he murmered as he studied the stuck window. "I see the problem. It's not that the window is stuck in the track. It's stuck _on_ the track." He waved Master Fung over. "See here?" he asked, pointing. "The aluminum is broken. It's bent over and the window caught on it as you were trying to put it down."

"Oh, I see," Master Fung replied, studying the indicated spot along the metal track. "Well, that should be easy to fix. I'll just get the needlenose pliers and bend it back straight."

Rai shook his head. "Nope, nope. The metal will just bend back out again. It'll keep cracking every time you bend it back into place, and every time it gets bent back out of place. Eventually, it'll crack the whole way down to where it rests against the wood frame. It needs to be patched in a more permanent manner."

He cupped his chin in his hand and tapped his forefinger against his mouth while he thought. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. "I know! I just need a couple of Wu!" He turned and dashed off. "Be back soon!"

Dojo and Master Fung watched Rai run out the room. Dojo slithered over to the dresser and hauled himself up to the top. His eyes began to twinkle as he studied Rai's sandwich. "Ooooh, what a nice looking piece of edible art. I think I could take a taste of this!"

"Dojo! Don't you dare!" Master Fung admonished.

"What?" Dojo asked, all innocent like. "What's a little nibble between friends?"

Master Fung stared Dojo down, and the little dragon acquiesced, sighed, and slipped down off the dresser again. "Okay, okay, fine, I won't touch his sandwich. Besides, I can make one myself, that good or _better_." He hopped up on Master Fung's bed, and the two waited patiently for Rai to return.

He finally came back, several minutes later, with the Star Hanabi, the Changing Chopsticks, and a metal file. Closing his eyes, and taking a moment to focus, he called out the name of the Star. A wide beam of fiery energy shot out from the Wu toward the broken metal track. He immediately called out the name of the Chopsticks. The energy from the Chopsticks hit the energy from the Star and shrunk it down to a straight, narrow beam. The beam hit the crack in the metal track dead center and sizzled a bit as it melted the metal together closing up the crack. Rai held the Star Hanabi up to his lips and blew on it, mimicking the action a gunslinger would make when blowing the smoke from the barrel of his gun. Then, he took the metal file, and filed the rough edges away from the soddered metal.

He stepped back away from the window to admire his handiwork. "I believe that'll hold it," he said.

Master Fung was momentarily speechless, but not from the nice patch job on the window. It was the way in which Rai had just used the Star and the Chopsticks that was holding his attention.

"Raimundo," he said, "I am duly impressed. You have been practicing."

Raimundo smiled up at his master. "You noticed! Yes, I have. Actually, I've been practicing with the Eye of Dashi. But I had to borrow Kimiko's Star because I needed to melt the metal, not blow it apart."

Master Fung patted Rai on the shoulder. "Well done, young monk. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome, Master Fung."

"Now, go and enjoy your sandwich, young one."

xsxsxsxs

He took a good, long sip of his iced tea and placed the glass down onto the patio table. He picked up his sandwich, and was just about to take a bite from it when an immense, drawn out, and quite melancholy sigh reached his ears.

Frowning, he put his sandwich back down on the plate, and looked up for the source of the sigh. Omi was leaning against the patio stair railing. Rai noticed him risk an ever so subtle quick glance in his direction. He then proceeded to take a deep breath, and let out a sigh that was even more immense, drawn out, and melancholy than the first one.

Rolling his eyes, Rai called out to his small teammate. "Something wrong there, Omi?"

Omi made a great show of having been startled from his leaning post. "Oh, Raimundo!" he exclaimed. "I did not see you there!"

A smirk tugged at the corner of Rai's mouth. _Uh-huh. Riiiiiight._

Omi walked up the steps to stand next to his Shoku. "I am dealing with a most befuddling conundrum," he said.

Rai gave his small friend a quizzical look. "I see. And that conundrum would be…..?"

"Well, you remember what Master Fung said he wanted us to work on today?" Omi replied, hopping up onto a chair. "We are supposed to think of two Wu that we can combine that we would not normally think of putting together." Once more, the little monk sighed and shook his head. "I must admit, that even for an extremely gifted warrior such as myself, who has studied the Wu for many years, and knows more about them than – "

"Omi! Get to the point, please!"

"I cannot think of two Wu to put together!" Omi suddenly shouted, flailing his arms around in the air.

The outburst startled Rai, and he leaned himself back against his chair as if concerned that Omi might accidentally hit him in his upset state. Omi's feathers usually didn't get ruffled this easily.

He reached out and patted the little monk's arm. "Easy, easy there, Omi. You're gonna pop a gusset or something."

Omi gave him a blank look. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Rai laughed softly. "It's just a figure of speech, Omi. It means you're going to strain yourself, or break something."

Now Omi was curious. "Then, why did you not just say that?"

Rai propped his chin in his hand, and indulged in a moment of amusement, and a sigh of his own. "I'll tell you what. I'll come with you and look at the Wu you've gathered. I'll see if I can give you some ideas, okay?"

"That would be most helpful!"

He picked his sandwich up, took a bite from it and laid it back down on the plate. Then, he picked the plate up, grabbed his tea, and carried it with him after Omi.

The two of them stopped in the part of the training area where the 'rescue the dog' exercise was set up.

"You see here what I have," Omi said.

Raimundo set his sandwich down on one of the wooden pedestals that normally held a vase to be kicked out of the way in the quest to get the dog, and looked at the Wu lying on the ground at Omi's feet.

After studying them for a few moments, he scratched his head.

"Uh, I think I see your problem here, little dude."

"Yes, yes, what is my problem?" Omi asked, jumping up and down, eager for the information that would break him out of the conundrum he was in.

"Well, it looks like you're trying to combine Wu that would make sense if used together."

He reached down and picked up the Fist of Tebigong, and the Two Ton Tunic. "Of course, it makes perfect sense to use these two together with each other." He picked up the Third Arm Sash, and the Monkey Staff. "And of course, it would make sense to use these two together." He tossed the Monkey Staff up in the air. The Third Arm Sash grabbed it and began slapping at Omi with it. Omi fended off the Staff easily as the Third Arm tried to hit him with it.

Rai deactivated the Wu and dropped them back onto the pile. "You need to stop thinking _inside_ the box, Omi. You need to start thinking _outside_ the box."

Omi looked all around him and under his feet. He looked up at Raimundo with a confused expression on his face. "I do not see this box of which you are speaking."

Rai grinned and took out the Changing Chopsticks, and the Eye of Dashi that he had stored in his tunic. "Watch this, Omi."

He turned around and directed his attention toward a flowering tree that stood several yards away from them. Calling out the name of each Wu in turn, he wielded them in the same manner he'd just used the Chopsticks and Star to fix Master Fung's window. Only this time, the narrow beam of lightning energy from the Eye sheared off a single blossom and sent it floating gently to the ground.

Omi's jaw dropped, and he let out a gasp. "That is most ingenious!" he cried. "You must teach me this! I must learn how to master this skill!" He jumped up and down repeatedly, trying to grab the Wu from Rai's hands.

Rai put his hand on top of Omi's head, bringing the excited jumping to an end. "Whoa, whoa, little dude! Take a deep breath, okay? Let's take those other Wu back, and gather some of the Wu we don't use as much, and bring them out here. Then you can play with combining _them_ and seeing what you can come up with."

Omi nodded and helped Rai scoop the Wu up off the ground. They had only taken a few steps when Rai suddenly stopped.

"Hang on a second," he said.

He dropped his armful of Wu and went back to his sandwich. Picking it up, he tore off another mouthful. Then, he went back, picked his pile of Wu up again, and he and Omi walked off to the vault.

xsxsxsxs

Rai sat back down on the patio chair, and took another bite of his sandwich. He chewed it for awhile and then picked up his glass of tea, and took a swig.

_Ewwwwww._

Making a face, he mustered up the will to actually swallow the mouthful he'd taken. His tea was warm. Well, that wasn't going to do at all.

Picking up his tea and sandwich once again, he headed back into the kitchen to get some ice. If he'd thought about putting ice in the glass in the first place, it wouldn't have gotten warm so quickly.

He rounded the frame, stepped into the kitchen and came face to face with the sight of a very serious looking Clay, sitting at the table, flipping through the pages of some magazine.

Clay didn't look like he needed any help with his page flipping, so Rai headed over to the fridge, got some ice cubes out of the freezer, and plunked them into his glass.

On the way out the door, he veered over to Clay and peered at the magazine over his shoulder.

"So whatcha doin', big guy?"

"Oh, I'm just trying to find somethin' to git muh daddy."

"Oh. He got a birthday comin' up?"

"Yeah."

"Well, good luck with that."

Rai turned to leave.

"I just don't know what to get 'im. Mebbe an outside opinion would help."

Rai's shoulders slumped. At this rate, he was never going to get to finish his lunch. He walked back to the fridge and stashed the food inside. Then, he went over and sat down next to Clay.

"Lemmee see that," he said.

Clay shoved the magazine over to him.

Rai flipped through the pages and wrinkled up his nose at almost every one. This was a gift magazine. It was filled with all sorts of exotic looking oriental knick-knacks that you could buy to clutter your house up with.

Shutting the back page, Rai gave the magazine a toss over to the far side of the table.

"Hey!" Clay exclaimed, in protest.

Rai turned in his seat to look at his friend. Master Fung hadn't given him any lessons yet on how to be a counselor, but this seemed as good a time as any to take a crack at it and see how good he could be. This wasn't too sticky a personal problem, so he was fairly confidant that he could come up with something useful. "Let me give you some advice," he said. "Make something for him with your own two hands."

Clay frowned. "But that's what I always do! I wanna do somethin' different this year."

Rai's brow furrowed, and he studied his friend for a long moment. "Let me tell you a story, Clay. When I was little, my mom always got us kids together to make something for our dad for his birthday. When it was Mom's birthday, Dad got us all together to make something for her. Now, when I turned ten, I suddenly decided that making something myself was too sappy a thing to do. I argued with my mom almost the whole day. She finally relented when I told her that I would tell Dad it was her fault that I didn't have anything to give him because she didn't care about how I felt over the matter. She took me to market and I picked out a little ceramic animal to give him. I was so proud of myself. He opened it and took it out, and it seemed like he was happy to get it. Then, he looked at me and said 'Didn't you make anything for me yourself?'." Rai shook his head. "I'll never forget the look on his face. He was trying so hard not to be disappointed. I felt so bad that after dinner was over, I ran down to the river, and found a smooth, shiny stone. I brought it back, begged my sister to let me use her craft paint, and painted a tree on it with a stick figure of me, and a stick figure of him, standing next to it holding hands. I painted the words 'Best Dad Ever' – in portuguese, of course – on the back. He was so happy. _Genuinely _happy." Rai stopped and nodded his head, as if reaffirming the memory to himself. "I learned something that day about parents, Clay. Do you know what I learned?"

Clay thought about Rai's story. It kind of sounded like the sort of story Master Fung might relate to them, with a moral attached to the end.

"You learned that parents think a gift made with your hands is like a gift from your own heart?"

"No," Rai said, smiling, "I learned that parents are weird. Really, _really_, weird. I mean, why would you like a rock with stick figures on it, over a professionally crafted ceramic animal? That's just dumb."

A look of annoyance cropped up on Clay's face. "Rai, that is _not_ helpin' me at all."

Rai started laughing. "Listen, Clay, buddy, why don't you whittle him a new Star Hanabi necktie? You could paint it to look just like the original. That way, he could still wear the 'Lone Star' around his neck. And I'd bet you anything that he'd be more than happy to tell anyone who would listen that his son made it for him with his very own two hands."

Clay turned what Rai said over in his mind. It wasn't a bad idea, actually. "Rai," he said, "I think you might have something there." He thought about it some more. "In fact, I think that's a purty darn good idea!"

He stood up and tipped his hat. "Thanks, Rai. I appreciate it."

"No problem. Glad I could help."

Rai took a deep breath and let it out. He steered his thoughts back toward his neglected lunch sitting in the fridge. There had to be somewhere he could go to finish his sandwich in peace.

xsxsxsxs

He leaned back on the couch, wriggled around a bit to make sure he was in a comfy position, and put his feet up on the coffee table. Smiling, he hoisted his sandwich up to his lips. Here in the living room, he was almost assuredly going to finally be free of any further interruptions in his quest to finish eating it. For it had indeed turned into a quest, it seemed to him. It was a seemingly impossible task that lay before him.

Just finish the sandwich already…..

Suddenly, the door banged open with such force that Rai nearly jumped clean off the sofa. His sandwich still hovering in the air before him, he turned his gaze to the offensive sound to see Kimiko storm through it into the living room. Her head was wrapped up in a scarf, and she was wearing big, round, dark-as-dark-can-be sunglasses. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of him on the couch. For just a moment, the tension was so thick you would have needed a freshly sharpened knife to cut it. The tension dissolved and Kimiko burst into tears and ran shrieking, and crying, from the room.

Rai sat, dumbfounded, still holding the sandwich at mouth level and stared blankly into the air.

What the heck just happened?

Groaning inwardly, he peeled himself up off the couch, grabbed his sandwich and his tea, and headed for the hall.

He no sooner passed through the archway when a sudden thought occurred to him. Where the heck was Master Fung? Why wasn't _he_ here, dealing with all this stuff that was going on?

Rai sighed, for the umpteenth time, and looked down at his feet. Obviously, it didn't matter what the answers to the questions were. He had already decided that he was going to go and see what was wrong with Kimiko, seeing as how his feet had lifted him up off the couch and brought him here to the archway, and were pointed in the direction down the hall to where Kimiko's room was.

He trudged down the hallway. He could hear her, as plain as day, sobbing inside her room.

He frowned.

Turning around, he walked the entire way back to the kitchen, put his sandwich and tea back inside the refrigerator, and headed back down the hall to Kimiko's room.

He took a moment to compose himself. Tapping on Kimiko's curtain, he asked, "Kimiko? Are you okay?"

"Go away!" came the reply.

Keeping his voice in a gentle tone, he tried again. "Kimi, please? You can tell me whatever's wrong. Really. That's what I'm here for." He waited. "Did Jack try to catch you again and switch you with the Chameleon Bot? I'll go kick his butt to pieces if you want." He paused. "He won't be able to sit down for a couple of months, I promise."

The sounds of sobbing subsided and turned into the sounds of sniffling. Finally, Kimiko's fingers appeared around the edge of the curtain as they gripped it, and she pulled the curtain back so Rai could see in.

Rai's eyes widened to the size of saucers. A totally uncalled for feeling of amusement welled up inside him. He slapped his hand across his mouth and nose as an unbidden snort came forth followed closely by a few shreds of accompanying laughter. Horrified, he slapped the other hand across his face, too.

Kimiko looked liked she'd stuck her finger in an electrical socket and her hair exploded.

"_**It's not funny!"**_ she screamed at him at the top of her lungs.

She grabbed the curtain and yanked it back shut, leaving Rai alone outside to kick and scold himself mentally for being unable to control his reaction in the proper manner.

Deciding that this was no time to stand on ceremony, he grabbed the curtain, and pulled it back. He stepped inside Kimi's room, pulled the curtain shut behind him, stood as contritely as possible at the foot end of her bed, and waited.

He didn't have to wait very long.

"_You think this is funny, do you?"_ she asked in a wail, as she paced back and forth. "If this was your hair, you wouldn't think it was so funny, would you? I oughta take you to that stupid hairdresser and see how _you_ like it! I don't know why I even said what I did! All I wanted was a little change! I thought maybe I'd try it short for a while! What harm's in that, right? It'd grow back if I didn't like it!" She stopped long enough to catch her breath, and then she wheeled around directly on Rai. _**"I look like something that the underworld puked up and spit out!"**_

In spite of the fact that Rai had sisters, and you would think he'd have developed some instinct as to when to not say something, he made the unfortunate mistake of asking her a question that he shouldn't have asked.

"You didn't…..by any chance…..tell the hairdresser…..'surprise me'…..did you?"

Kimiko's gaze locked with Rai's for a scant few seconds. Her face contorted in pain and she threw herself down across her bed, and began sobbing again.

Rai went back to kicking himself mentally.

After a while, she quieted down again, and he cautiously inched forward to where she lay. He sat down gently on her bedmat and began rubbing her back and shoulders. "Now, now, Kimiko," he said in a voice he hoped was soothing enough. "If you want, I can go out to Omi and get the Monkey Staff from him. I can give it to you so you can beat me over the head with it."

She didn't answer, so he decided to try a different tact.

"You don't look so bad, really," he said. "I'm sure that all you need to do is just give it a good washing so it straightens out again."

"What do _you_ know?"

Rai smiled. "I have seven brothers and sisters, remember? I helped Mom to cut everybody's hair."

As soon as Raimundo's words connected with her brain, Kimiko's funk seemed to dissolve.

She stopped crying and turned over to look at him.

Rai removed his hands and clasped them, like a good gentleman, on his lap. He continued smiling at her in reassuring kind of way.

"You cut hair?"

He shrugged. "Sure! Do you know how much it costs to take eight kids and two parents to the hairdresser? Mom had a friend that cut hair. She asked her to teach her on the side. I thought it was kinda fascinating, so I asked Mom to teach me."

She sniffled a bit and sat up. "So, you like playing with people's hair?"

Rai shook his head. "Not entirely. It was about the power thing, too."

"Power?"

"If you were my younger sibling, and you knew that I held in my hands, and shears, the power to give you an awesome haircut, or an absolutely horrendous one, wouldn't you do your best to behave for me on the night when it was my turn to babysit?"

Kimiko turned what Rai had said over in her mind until she had successfully picked apart the implication behind it. "So, all that time, the whole 'slacker' thing was just a front," she said, smiling. "You're _actually_ a closet control freak."

"Hey," Rai said, waving his hands defensively in front of him, "I totally deny everything you just said."

Kimiko's smile brightened considerably and she pointed at her head. "Can you undo this?"

Rai grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

The two moved down into the washroom. Rai lifted Kimi up on top of a high stool in front of the mirror over the sink. "Be right back." And with that, he scooted out the door.

He returned several minutes later with the Changing Chopsticks and the Reversing Mirror.

"You ready?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Changing Chopsticks! Reversing Mirror!"

He no sooner called out the two names than he abruptly dropped the Wu, thereby deactivating their effect.

Just as the two combined Wu had made Omi grow very tall, the two Wu now made Kimiko's hair grow very long; it was just brushing the floor.

"So, where do you want the length to fall?"

"Just beneath the shoulder blades."

"Bangs, again?"

"Yep."

Rai unzipped the black pouch he'd retrieved from his room. Inside were a few pairs of scissors, the kind of which were used by hairstylists. He spritzed her hair with the mister bottle she'd brought, and took the comb that she offered, and got to work.

About twenty minutes later, Kimi's hair was once again looking as fabulous as it always did, and Rai was sweeping hair clippings up off the floor.

Kimi divested him of the broom and jumped in his arms, and hugged him. Rai felt his face turn seven different shades of red. "Thanks!" she exclaimed into his ear. She pulled away from him and Rai set her down onto the floor. She picked up her mirror, mister bottle, and comb, and made her way to the door.

Rai scratched the back of his neck in an absent kind of way. "You're welcome."

She flashed him her best smile and went back to her room to put her stuff away.

Rai sat down heavily on the vacated stool.

Was that it, then?

He'd spent the last, almost two hours, bouncing around solving everyone's problems and now he felt kind of bereft. He got back up, swept up the rest of Kimiko's hair, and dumped it in the waste basket. Wending his way back into the kitchen, he grabbed his lunch once more, and headed outside. He walked across the grounds to the main temple building. Down into the basement he went. He found a old couch that didn't look too beat up. He set his sandwich down on a rickety not-too-dusty little table next to it.

Picking up his glass, he took a nice, long drink of tea, and wondered to himself if there was anything else that might crop up that he would need to deal with before the day was over.

There probably would be. But for now, he had the strangest feeling that he should stay here in the basement and avoid all contact with the rest of the outside world.

At least this way he'd finally get to finish his sandwich.

finis

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TTFN, Nori  
_this is no pie!_


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